Improvement in shoulder-straps



UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

GIDEON ROBINSON, OF NEV YORK, N. Y.

IMPROVEMENT IN SHOULDER-STRAPS.

.To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I. GIDEoN ROBINSON, of the city, county, and State of New York, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Officers Shoulder-Straps; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of Jthe same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this speciiication, in which- Figure l is a top View of a shoulder-strap constructed according to my invention. Fig. 2 is a top view of a portion of one side of the border and the internal corner-pieces of the same. Fig. 3 is a top view of one of the internal corner-pieces. Fig. 4 is a transverse section of one side of the strap on a scale much larger than the real size. Fig. 5 is a longitudinal view illustrative of the coiling of the wire upon the mandrel to form the sides of the strap. Fig. 6 is a transverse section corresponding with Fig. 5, except that it is on a scale much larger than the real size.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in the several figures.

The object of this invention is to obtain a shoulderstrap which is less costly and more durable than those which are made of bullion embroidery, and which has a better appearance than those in which the border and bars are composed of metal plate, and at the same time has a desirable degree of iiexibility; and to this end it consists in the construction of the border of the shoulder-strap of wire by coiling the wire upon a mandrel of half-round or nearly half-round shape to form the sides and ends of the border, and combining the sides and ends by means of internal cornerpieces stamped or otherwise formed of plate metal.

To enable others to construct a shoulderstrap according to my invention, I will proceed to describe it with reference to the drawgA, Figs. 5 and 6, is the mandrel, hollow on one side and rounded on the other.

a is wire-cloth, represented in Figs. 5 and 6 as lapped around the mandrel, and in Fig. 4 as lining the border of the shoulder-strap.

b b is the wire of which the exterior of the border B of the shoulder-strap is composed. A portion of this wire is twisted and the remainder plain. As many pieces are laid together side by side and coiled upon the mandrel as will give the coil a pitch of about forty-iive degrees, and after it has been coiled upon the mandrel the whole is laid in a die and the wire which lies across the hollow side of the mandrel is swaged into the hollow of the mandrel. as shown at c in Fig. 6, which gives the coil greater stiffness. The coil may be formed upon the mandrel of any length and afterward cut into pieces of the lengths of the sides and ends of the border B, making the cuts at angles of forty-live degrees with the length of the mandrel to form miter joints at the corners of the border.

O O are the internal corner-pieces, made of sheet metal,having a transverse section corresponding in form with that ofthe mandrel,and the angles of these corner-pieces are recessed on the outer sides ofthe pieces, as shown at d, Fig. 3, for the reception of portions of the wire at the corner joints of the border, which are formed by inserting the said corner-pieces within the portions of the coils which form the sides and ends of the border, and lapping the wires so as to conceal the ends on the upper side. The joints thus formed may be tinished by a tack of solder at the under side, and when they have been nislied the border is subjected to the process of gilding,preparatory to being sewed on the shoulder-strap D. The border, after having been sewed on the shoulder-strap, is nished inside and outside by sewing to the strap a fine coiled fillet or ribbon, e, of bullion in the same manner as the bullion border.

The lining a oi' wire-cloth might be dispensed with; but I consider it preferable always to use such lining, as without it the bending of the strap might cause the wires to separate Widely in some place or places.

The bending of the wire into the concavity of the mandrel may not be absolutely necessary, though I consider it very desirable for the purpose of enabling the wires the better to retain their position.

Vhat I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

A shoulder-strap having its border composed principally of a series of wires, b b, coiled or wound in a half-round form, and a series of internal corner-pieces, C C, combined substantially as herein specified.

l GIDEON ROBINSON.

Vitnesses:

J. F. BUOKLEY, M. S. PARTEIDGE. 

